Breaking Noah

“Please. It’s important. You have to let me in. Noah, something really bad happened.” It most certainly did. You took something private and intimate and shared it with everyone without any concern for me.

“Go away, Zara.”

“Please!” she screams, her fists pounding against the wood.

Flying to the door, I fling it open so hard it cracks against the drywall, leaving a hole where the handle is. I glare down at Zara, with her mascara-stained cheeks and puffy eyes. “What, Zara? Are you here to tell me why you ruined me? Why it’s barely eight-thirty and my boss is sitting in my living room trying to figure a way out of this shit show? I’m waiting, Zara. Start talking.” I wave my arm, inviting her inside. If I have to deal with the aftermath of her juvenile decision, she does, too.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispers, when she sees Dean Calloway scowling in her direction. “I had no idea.”

“Exactly what are you having problems understanding, Ms. Hamilton?” Dean Calloway seethes. “You made a real mess here, young lady. You shouldn’t be here. Mr. Bain’s in enough trouble without you here to muddy the already dirty water. You should leave.”

More tears fill Zara’s eyes, and yesterday—shit, an hour ago—I would have tried my best to comfort her, make sure she was okay. Now her mental state is the last thing I’m concerned with. I have to save my own ass. “She’s right, Ms. Hamilton,” I say, turning away from Zara and taking my seat on the couch again. “I’m not sure what your plan was, but you’ve accomplished whatever it was that you wanted. Now, I’m sure that you know the way out.”

Zara’s shoulders slump and she inhales a few deep breaths before turning on her heels, walking out of the door and, I hope, my life. Once the door closes behind her, I turn my attention back to my boss, praying she has a solution to this mess.

“What are you thinking, Karen?” I ask.

“The board’s willing to settle for unpaid administrative leave until this blows over. At that time, they’ll examine all the evidence and determine if you’re going to be allowed back to Northwestern. I won’t lie to you, Noah. It’s not looking so good right now. You might want to think of another career option.”

“Isn’t there anything else we can do? She’s an adult. I know it’s a violation of my morality clause—an ethics violation—but seriously, I didn’t break the law. I’ll do anything, Karen. Anything.”

“Just start with having no contact with the student, or any others, for that matter. The last thing we’ll need in the middle of this scandal is you having contact with anyone else who can bring a claim against you. I hate to ask you this, but it’s my job. Are there any other affairs we should know about? They’re going to come out if there are.”

“No. Nothing. Zara’s the only person I’ve been involved with since college. After breaking it off with Shannon, it’s only been Zara.”

“I’m glad to hear that. As terrible as this situation is, we might be able to use that in your defense if the situation arises. The fact that you’re not a habitual offender should work out in your favor. But I’m serious, Noah, no contact. With her. With other students, male or female. Right now you need to stay under the radar.” I nod, taking everything in and vowing to come out the other side of this. Teaching is what I love, and I won’t let a stupid, irresponsible affair come between me and what I care most about.

Dean Calloway leaves and I spend the rest of the morning avoiding anything to do with this situation. Refusing to go on any social media sites or watch the news, I’m stuck with whatever reruns are on and I try to focus on anything but what Zara’s done. After about an hour, I walk back to my bedroom, needing a shower and possibly a nap. On the floor, the notification light on my phone flashes, catching my attention.

Picking it up, I realize that I didn’t actually break the damn thing, just shattered the screen. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. Good because I’ll still have communication with the outside world. Bad because the first thing I see is a text message from Zara, begging for me to call her once the dean leaves.

Me: Enough. Do not contact me anymore.

I really want to know why she did it, but at this point her reasoning doesn’t matter. The only thing that does is that she tried to take me down in whatever she had planned. I’ll never know why. I’m not even sure it matters at this point.

Zara: It wasn’t me. Please. Talk to me.

Lies. Fucking lies. “It wasn’t me.” Does she think I’m a moron? Of course it was her. Nobody else could have recorded that specific encounter. Had it been one that took place in my office, I’d be a little more lenient about speaking with her, but it was at my home. Adding to that, the video was emailed from her student account.

Sitting back, it all starts to piece together. Zara’s been far too interested in me since day one. I was so blinded by her I never saw it coming. I let this happen. I put myself in a situation to be played, and hell, did she play me. I fell right into whatever trap she laid. Whatever I did to her to invite such behavior, I’d really like to know, because it’s got to be huge for Zara to have gone to such lengths to destroy the life of someone she’s just met.

Instead of sending a response to her latest message, I power down my phone. I refuse to have any contact with someone who’s hell-bent on ruining me and doesn’t even have the gall to own up to her decision.

This is exactly what I get for messing with a little girl. I think it’s safe to say that my lesson’s been learned.

Chapter 25

Zara

“Fuck,” I cry, hurling my phone across the room. The sound of it hitting the wall and shattering rips through me as I fall to my knees.

I’ve never felt so alone. My whole fucking life is a mess. How could I have gotten things so wrong?

It’s been two days since the email went out and he won’t fucking speak to me. All my texts and calls have gone ignored and I’m at the breaking point because I don’t know how to fix this.

Getting to my feet, I walk over to the window and nudge back the curtain with my finger. They’re still there. Fucking reporters. With the world in crisis over various wars and disease outbreaks, how is this news?

I need to get out of here. Dillon’s been staying at the frat house, keeping his nose out of the news. I’m sure with his father’s connections it wouldn’t have been an issue to put a halt to the story, but future congressmen shouldn’t have children splashed across the front pages of a sex scandal at the university. I’d never been so thankful for his pompous-ass parents.